Hybrid vehicles: a transport to sustainable development

Fossil fuels have brought us into this modern economy. But they also put us in danger because of the increasing carbon dioxide levels they produce. It is now time that we seriously look into the use of hybrid vehicles to reduce emission of carbon dioxide. Hybrid vehicles that are charged by electricity produce clean energy. They are sustainable and cost much less as they utilize nature’s own energy sources, such as solar and wind power.

Hybrid vehicles are similar to the conventional petrol-powered vehicle, except that they veer away from total dependence on fossil fuels. They are powered by two or more sources of energy. Hybrids utilize any of these natural sources of energy:

solar power

wind power

pressurized or compressed air

electric batteries

fuel cell

liquid petroleum gas (LPG)

liquefied nitrogen

hydrogen

alternative fuels and biofuels

manpower

These sources of energy work alternately in such a manner that the more efficient one functions when and where it is needed most. For example, when petrol engine assumes the gear in negotiating a steep hill, the other energy source shuts off.

Hybrid vehicles significantly reduce the impact of tailpipe emissions by ninety percent. And since their emission is almost zero, they are gentler to the environment as well as to human health. Hybrids are economically-efficient, too, as they allow users to be less dependent on petrol fuel.

Car manufacturers continually study and test varied combinations of energy sources to come up with the most cost-efficient and most environmentally-friendly hybrid. So far, the most common among the hybrids use gas-and-electric power combination, called the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).

HEVs use fossil fuel to power the internal combustion engines and electric batteries to energize the electric motors. Their salient advantages over fossil-fueled vehicles include:

They use regenerative braking to recoup some of the energy lost during stopping, saving energy in a storage battery to be used later to power the motor whenever the car is in electric mode.

HEVs outperform gasoline-powered cars in terms of mileage by approximately 20 to 30 percent.

When HEVs are switched onto electric mode, they don’t produce excessive roaring. In other words they operate quietly; thus, reducing another form of pollution – that is, noise.